


We're All Agoraphobic

by AestheticFailure



Category: Corpse (RPF), Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Sykkuno (RPF), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Author Is Sleep Deprived, Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson), Corpse is anxious, Demigods, M/M, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Tags Are Hard, They are also demigods, They're still youtubers, everyone is a demigod
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:34:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28475481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AestheticFailure/pseuds/AestheticFailure
Summary: Sykkuno was doing well for himself. He had a good friend group, support from his fans, and he could finally afford that dang water bill. But everything flips on its head when he gets a call about his childhood camp falling apart around itself. On the brink of yet another war, Camp Half Blood was forced to call in the retired demigods from years past. The streamer has to decide what's more important: his secret, or his home.Or: The Corpsekkuno demigod fic that no one asked for but I wrote anyway.
Relationships: Corpse Husband & Sykkuno (Video Blogging RPF), Corpse Husband/Sykkuno (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 29
Kudos: 264





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was an idea that came to me and I couldn't help but write it down. I'm also posting this at 4am, so there are bound to be some errors! Next chapters should be longer, and include a few more people that we all love.
> 
> !!!This is based on the online personas of the people mentioned, I in no way think that Corpse and Sykkuno are in any sort of romantic relationship. And if either say that they are uncomfortable with fanfiction about them, this will be taken down immediately!!!

Sykkuno felt his eyes close the second he ended his stream. It hadn’t been a particularly tough night, but he couldn’t seem to get into the swing of things. Sinkng back into his chair he could feel the edges of the boxes in the floor press into his ankles. It had been an unboxing video, just opening packages that his fans had sent to him, and it should have been a laid back stream. And it would have been, had he not have received a message from Rae halfway through the stream.

**Rae: he’s gone**

Sykkuno didn’t usually check his messages during stream, trying not to get too distracted by his phone. He felt like it was rude, taking away his attention from his chat when he was having a good night. Rae’s message had managed to completely ruin his mood, and it was obvious to his viewers. He didn’t have his usual energy. He had even ended his stream early, not feeling up to being in front of thousands of people with his current mentality.

It wasn’t even a full minute after he had closed his eyes that his phone started vibrating on the desk in front of him. He sighed, running a hand through his hair and reaching to pick it up. Rae’s contact picture lit up the darkened room like he figured it would.

_“Oh, hey Rae.”_

_“Sykkuno, did you get my message” Her voice sounded tired when she spoke._

_“I did. I was streaming though, so I didn’t get to reply. Sorry about that, by the way.”_

_“Oh, I completely forgot you were streaming tonight. God, I’m so tired. I should have called first.”_

Sykkuno stood up from his chair, stretching his arms above his head before replying. _“No, it’s fine! I wasn’t going to, but I saw all these packages that had been delivered this week. They just keep piling up, you know? It feels like they double every day, especially since the channel’s grown like it has been, and- oh Jesus, I got so off topic, sorry.”_ He cleared his throat, leaving his room and padding to the living room. He was home alone, so he was left to wander around. _“So it’s true?”_

He heard her sigh through the phone, and he could practically see her rubbing her eyes in exhaustion. _“Yeah. I just got back home, dad summoned me this morning. I was only able to escape about an hour ago. You know how they are once they start talking.”_

That was true. Sykkuno had seen his fair share of “quick conversations” turn into a full day of lecturing. Especially with Rae’s dad, he liked to talk, despite his gruff personality. _“Of course. Are they… doing a funeral?”_

They talked for a bit longer, Sykkuno agreeing to talk to Toast once he got home. Out of all of them, Toast was the one that would take the news the hardest, and he shouldn’t be told over the phone. Rae was willing to come deliver the news to him herself, but there wasn’t any reason for her to come out again when Sykkuno lived with the man.

He passed by a house plant on his way to the couch, one of the many that he had snuck into the house. The ficus was wilting a bit at the edges, and he frowned a bit. He’d been watering it daily, but there must have been something wrong with the soil that was making it grow poorly. He let his fingers hover over the leaves, feeling a small burst of pride when the leaf immediately began to brighten and uncurl.

The rest of the leaves followed, lifting his mood with each leaf that he healed. His entire body tingled with the familiar feeling of using his more hidden powers. But at the same time, it reminded him of exactly why he was so down to begin with. 

To anyone on the outside, his grief would seem unwarranted. The head counselor at his childhood summer camp had passed away earlier that day. But he had been more than a summer camp attendant to Sykkuno. He’d been a father figure. To him, Rae, Toast. He’d saved all of them more times than they could count, and to know he was gone…

He’d have to find an excuse for the fact that he was going to be gone from streaming for a few days. He didn’t normally take breaks from his schedule, so his fans would see right through any excuse that he gave if it wasn’t a good one. Maybe he could pretend he was sick? Or he and Toast could pretend to be on an impromptu vacation? But that would never work, Toast was too active on his social medias for that to work.

By the time Toast got home, all the plants in the house were green and full of life, and Sykkuno had gone through at least a half gallon of water to try and get rid of the lump in his throat. Toast took one look at him and immediately knew something was wrong. He took his jacket and shoes off, setting both by the door, and came to sit down beside his friend. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Toast could always tell when there was something off with him. Even though they hadn’t been living together for long, they had known each other for far longer than they let on for the camera. They were like siblings, and Sykkuno was grateful for it. “Rae called. She just got home, her dad summoned her for the day.”

Toast’s eyebrows furrowed, and he leaned closer to Sykkuno. “Ares summoned her? Why?”

Sykkuno fiddled with his hoodie strings before answering. “It’s Chiron.”

Toast’s expression dropped into something guarded and unreadable. He’s been closer to Chiron than Sykkuno had, of course he was going to be hurt by the news. His jaw clenched like he was going to say something, but he didn’t. The silence was smothering between them.

“Toast… He died this morning.”

He nodded, looking down at his lap. Chiron had been like a father to him. To all of them, but he had shared a different bond with the older man something much closer that even Sykkuno didn’t know the full story behind. Whatever it was had happened before they met.

“Hey, I’m really sorry, I-” Sykkuno was cut off.

“Are they having a funeral?” Toast still hadn’t looked up from his jeans, mind obviously in overdrive. “No, of course they are. When is it?”

“Friday.” It was Tuesday, they had a few days to get there and get settled in before the funeral. “They invited the past head counselors to come.” It almost seemed ironic, like it was too well planned, that they had been some of the people invited along for this. Like the universe knew exactly what it was doing.

Toast chuckled dryly. “I don’t suppose Mr. D sent out plane tickets, huh?” 

“Like you would get on one if he did.” Sykkuno bumped their shoulders together. He didn’t miss the way Toast’s shoulders slumped, how utterly sad he sounded when he spoke again. 

“I talked to him last month you know. I told him I’d visit soon. I wasn’t. I wasn’t fast enough.”

Sykkuno didn’t know how to help him, he didn’t even know that Toast had been in contact with anyone from Camp Half-Blood, let alone that he had been talking to Chiron himself. There may have been a lot that he didn’t know about what the other man. “Toast, you didn’t know that this was going to happen. No one did, you can’t blame yourself.” When the other didn’t reply he continued. “But I was thinking we could leave on Thursday morning early, get there by nightfall if we don’t hit traffic.”

He watched as his friend shook his head. “Tomorrow night. Drive through the night, get there Thursday afternoon. No need to delay it.” His tone was dark, like he was trying not to show any emotion. It was the way he handled anything, be strong until the point he was alone, then let it all out.

Sykkuno nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. Of course Toast would want to get there as soon as possible, it had been so long since they had been there. “I know it’s been a while since we were there. I wonder what’s changed. If there’s anyone we know that’ll be there.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised. We were only head for two years. And that’s not even considering winter counselors.”

Sykkuno patted Toast’s knee as he stood, going to fix dinner for the two of them. “That’s true. But there’s got to be someone we recognize, right? It’s a big world out there.”

Toast picked up his phone, probably to message Rae. “No clue. LA IS a hot spot for us, after all.”

He was right about that. With so many people in one area, monsters ran rampant through the streets. But of course mortals didn’t pay any attention to the things that went on around them. The demigods that lived there however? They had to witness everything. Sykkuno didn’t know how that the mortals passed off the brutal maulings caused by the creatures of the night as homicide. Most of them weren’t even believable.

Sykkuno finished dinner quickly, nothing complicated since he wasn’t the best cook in the world. Chicken and pasta, comfort food. They ate at the television, putting on a show that neither of them payed attention to. Instead, they just talked the whole time. 

“And of COURSE when she woke up, she was still covered in mud.”

They were laughing, Sykkuno’s face tight from smiling so much. It felt good, it had been nice to sit and retell old stories that they hadn’t thought of in over ten years. Memories they hadn’t talked about were flooding back to both of them, making them laugh and cry in equal parts before they went back. Sykkuno had a hand over his mouth, stifling his laughter. “Rae was SO mad, she beat us half to death in training the next day. We deserved it, though.”

Toast was chuckling with him, looking away long enough to check his phone. “She was. But she’ll be even more mad if we don’t sleep at some point tonight.”

Sykkuno checked his own phone, seeing the near three o’clock displayed there. They said their good-nights, promising to pack their bags in the morning, and going their separate ways to their rooms.

Even though it was late and he was tired, he couldn’t seem to go to sleep. He began scrolling through twitter after what felt like hours of staring at the ceiling, seeing a new tweet from Corpse from less than an hour ago.

Normally he wouldn’t message a friend at such a late hour, but if anyone was going to be awake, it would be Corpse. He opened discord, immediately closing the app and opening his messages, opting to send a text instead.

**Sykkuno: hey corpse! :)**

He didn’t even have time to close the message before he saw the typing bubbles appear at the bottom, a new message appearing almost immediately.

**Corpse: sykkuno? Why are you awake?  
Corpse: Not that I don’t like talking to you, but you’re usually asleep by now.  
Sykkuno: usually I am.  
Sykkuno: I just can’t sleep tonight, too much on my mind.**

He plugged his phone in to charge and put on a lofi playlist while he waited for a response, trying to force himself to wind down. Tucking the blanket under his chin, his eyes feeling just a bit more heavy.

**Corpse: need to talk about it?  
Sykkuno: maybe tomorrow.  
Sykkuno: how’s the new song coming along? :)  
Corpse: good, good.  
Corpse: I was hoping to release it this week, but some shit came up last minute.**

Sykkuno frowned at that, his fingers dancing over the keyboard before settling on what to say. He didn’t want to pry into Corpse’s life, he knew how private his friend was. Could you call them friends? He hoped so. They texted quite a bit outside of their among us lobbies, and they had good chemistry there too. The fans certainly seemed to think so, anyway.

**Sykkuno: oh, I’m sorry something came up  
Sykkuno: i’m looking forward to hearing it though! :)  
Corpse: I’ll be sure to send it to you first thing  
Corpse: even though we both know it’s not your type of music**

That was true, he didn’t typically like intense, scream filled music, but there was something about Corpse’s style that made him want to listen to the songs again. It was raw, if not a little too raw at times, but it was obvious just how much of himself Corpse put into his music. Of course he would listen to the songs, they meant a lot to Corpse. Which meant that they meant a lot to him, by default. Maybe it was the fact that he was only focusing on one thing, or the darkness of his bedroom, but he was getting tired, his fingers moving slower as he typed his messages out.

**Sykkuno: corpse, as long as it’s your music, I know I’ll like it  
Corpse: thank you, Sykkuno  
Corpse: you should try to go to sleep, you’re going to hate me for keeping you up  
Sykkuno: I could never hate you!  
Sykkuno: but I will try to get some sleep  
Sykkuno: night corpse!  
Corpse: goodnight sykkuno <3**

He was asleep before he had the chance to process the emoji staring back at him from the screen.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New faces, old friends.

“How did this even happen?” Toast had been driving for several hours, letting Sykkuno have a break from the road. They were only a few hours from New York, and Toast had insisted on being the one to finish the drive. They hadn’t talked for most of their journey, playing music and sleeping for the majority of the trip. But once they crossed into the more familiar part of the country, there had been a tense silence in the car. And Toast had obviously had something on his mind.

Sykkuno rubbed his eyes, trying to get the exhaustion from them. He knew that he probably wouldn’t sleep very well the next week, and it wasn’t starting out well. The car was cramped, the backseat filled with their bags and supplies. “I don’t know. No one can figure that out.”

Toast kept his eyes on the road, the tiredness showing in his expression. “Rae talked to Ares, right? He didn’t say anything?” Until then everyone thought that Chiron wasn’t someone that you could just… kill. He was the one person that everyone could count on, besides the Olympians, of course. Of course there were others, but Sykkuno wasn’t close to any of them like he was the centaur.

Opening a bag of chips they had brought, he popped one into his mouth. They’d been living on gas station food for the last ten hours, not wanting to delay their trip if they had to. “She did. He didn’t seem to want to say much, even to her.”

“Daddy’s favorite didn’t even get news? Must be something big, then.” Their conversation lulled, turning up the music to fill the silence

He’d tried to talk Toast into letting him drive for a bit, not getting anywhere with it. They had to stop for food not far from camp, much to his friend’s grumbles. But soon enough, they were crossing into the strawberry farm parking lot, not far from the borders of camp. That hadn’t been there the last time he was there. He knew that there would be a lot of things that had changed in that time. But surely, there were enough things that were the same that it wouldn’t be weird, right?

If you were to ask Sykkuno what his idea of a fun time was, it probably wouldn’t include twenty teenagers talking his ear off about Minecraft while he tried to put his things away. He understood them having to stay in their parents’ cabins, but were the preteens really necessary?

He finally managed to escape after almost an hour, getting a much needed breath of fresh air. So much about Camp Half-Blood had changed. There were no longer the same cabins that there had been, many more being added around the originals. He didn’t know what he had expected when he had come back, it had been over ten years since he was there. Toast had visited a few times through the years, but he had never given many hints about it changing so drastically. Maybe it was a recent thing?

One thing that he knew was the same though, was the strawberry patch. The camp had always used the farm as an excuse to the mortals, a cover for why the place was there to begin with. And Sykkuno had been one of the ones to take care of it, while he was there. It only felt right to visit it, since there didn’t seem to be much of a thought of anything but the funeral.

As he was walking down the path toward the farm, one of the cabin doors swung open, nearly hitting Sykkuno as it dd. He ducked to the side, the two men walking out almost running into him. He mumbled an apology, keeping his gaze on the ground to keep from having to talk to anyone. It was bad enough that he looked young enough to be attending camp as a camper, but people kept recognizing him from his streams. And he was not about that level of social interaction.

Before he could clear the two newcomers though, a hand was reaching out and grasping his sleeve, making him turn in his steps. His first thought was that that was rude, his second thought being that he almost lost his balance and fell. Once he found his footing, he was staring at someone that he had only seen on a computer screen.

“Sykkuno? Holy shit dude, it’s good to see you!” He was greeted with the sight of a man with a beard, his long brown hair pulled into a bun on top of his head. The smile he was receiving was unmistakable, he'd seen it in so many clips of the streamer reacting to, well, him.

“Charlie! I had no idea you’d be here!”

“That makes two of us. I thought I’d left this place behind years ago.” He looked around, shaking his head. “It sure has changed, huh?”

Sykkuno nodded, bouncing on his heels. This was the first time he was meeting his friend, and t wasn’t anything like he would have expected. “It sure has. But, uh, some things are the same, I guess?

Charlie only shrugged in reply, moving his hand into his jacket pocket. “Ludwig should be here by tonight, for campfire. You know of anyone else?” He seemed distracted, and the shouting from inside the cabin was probably a large reason why.

“Oh, Ludwig too? I had no idea. But, uhm, me and Toast rode together. Rae will be here soon, too. Other than that, uhm, I don’t know anyone else.”

“Rae and Toast both, huh? I should have known you’ve known them for longer than you let on, you work way too well together.” There was a crash from inside the cabin Charlie had come from, and he sighed. “Great. I know there’s a stereotype about the Hecate kids, but I don’t think I was ever this bad. I’ve been here for six hours, and I’ve already put out three fucking fires. It was good to see you, Sykkuno. I’ll catch you later.”

He turned on his heel, already yelling before the door was shut. Sykkuno shook his head slightly, he had no idea that Charlie or Ludwig either one had been there. Granted, he didn’t spend every summer at camp. Since the monsters didn’t typically attack him as frequently, he had been able to live a fairly normal life, only stepping into the role of head counselor when there was no one else to take the position. 

But, back to his quest for the strawberries. He was on a mission, okay? The trail was easy enough to follow, until he got to the familiar dirt path that took him to the edge of camp borders. It was calming, being out in the open, surrounded by nature. It was a part of who he was. 

He knelt down next to the plants, running a finger down a wilting leaf. It didn’t seem like his siblings were helping the plants grow very much in the last few days, which was fair, all things considered. It was a busy week.

The moment he touched the leaf, his fingers began buzzing with energy. He let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding, years worth of not using his powers freely coming back to him in a wave. He let himself dabble in it from time to time, but it had been so long since he’d allowed himself to let go and really put them to use. The plant brightened, perking up instantly at the magic coursing through it. One by one, he went around to all of the bushes in the first row, his body practically humming by the time he was through.

He moved from his place on the ground, standing and moving to the middle of the patch. It was relaxing, and he could practically feel the thrum of energy in the plants around him. He found a spot in the dirt that obviously used to house a bush, probably one that had gotten too sick to live and had to be removed. He sat in the dirt where it used to be, allowing the nature around him to soak into his system.

He didn't think anyone would see him out there, and even if they did, they probably wouldn’t think very much of it. A grown man sitting in a strawberry field? Nothing to see here.

Sykkuno closed his eyes, letting the sun hit his face for a moment before he heard his phone go off in his pocket. When he fished it out, he didn’t know whether to thank or curse the gods for his luck. Corpse’s name was displayed in their bold letters across his screen.

**Corpse: how’s your vacation?**

Oh, that’s right. Corpse had been fed the same lie that twitter had been. He felt bad, lying to his friend, but the truth would be weirder than any lie that he could come up with. “I’m going across the country for a funeral for a horse, who isn't really supposed to be able to die.”

 **Sykkuno: it’s okay**

He thought for a second before sending another.

**Sykkuno: it would be more fun if you were here! :)**

**Corpse: wish I was.**

The sun was going to do a number on his face, not that he really cared. It felt nice, after the pure chaos of the morning, to just be one with the plants, like he had spent so long doing.

**Sykkuno: are you still releasing your new song soon?**  
**Corpse: wish I could. Got called away for an emergency, so it’ll be a while.**

Sykkuno frowned at that, brushing his hair out of his face. He hadn’t had time to fix it before Toast had forced him out of the house. And the car ride certainly hadn’t helped the style of it. Corpse wasn’t exactly known for being willing to leave his house, what could have made him drop everything and leave?

**Sykkuno: is everything okay?**

**Corpse: yeah, yeah**  
**Corpse: had to go to an unexpected funeral.**

**Sykkuno: oh jesus**  
**Sykkuno: i’m really sorry :(**

He reached out, seeing how his bushes were doing. To his joy, bright red strawberries were blooming in the leaves, brightening the patch up with a splash of color that hadn’t been there before. He pulled a berry off, turning it over in his fingers before popping it into his mouth. His phone dinged, not that he had even closed their conversation.

**Corpse: it’s fine. hadn’t seen him in a few years.**

Sykkuno frowned, his fingers flitting over the keys while deciding what to say. He hoped that Corpse didn’t have to go to an unwanted funeral by himself. He didn't know that he would have come to Chiron's funeral if it weren’t for Toast practically threatening his life, and he had been at camp off and on for most of his early life.

**Sykkuno: is there anyone there with you?**

**Corpse: no one important**  
**Corpse: just my pain in the ass half brother**

Corpse had a brother? Sykkuno was… honestly a little offended. Just a little. The two of them had gotten pretty close since their first among us lobby together, sharing a lot of things that Sykkuno had never told most people. His parentage, not so much. But that wasn’t something that he could just share with the world.

**Sykkuno: hey, at least he’s there**  
**Sykkuno: even if he is a pain haha**

The strawberry gone, he picked another one and started on it. 

**Corpse: he’s okay I guess**  
**Corpse: where’d your vacation take you?**

Sykkuno stretched his legs out, letting his feet touch the bushes. He hadn’t said where he was online, so there wasn’t any reason to lie about it to his friend.

**Sykkuno: oh!**  
**Sykkuno: we decided to go to New York for the week :D**  
**Sykkuno: have you ever been?**

**Corpse: I have**  
**used to go every summer when I was a kid**

**Sykkuno: same!**  
**I wonder if we ever saw each other and didn’t know it!**

As they continued talking like they did every day, Sykkuno couldn’t help but feel bad for keeping such a big secret from his friend. Maybe when him and Toast got back to California, he would try to tell Corpse about his life. For whatever reason, it was important to him to be able to be open with the other. The were newer friends, yeah, but it still felt easier to talk to Corpse than most of the people he’d known for a while. It wouldn’t hurt to try.

There was still no word from the majority of the Olympians by the time the campfire rolled around, leaving the satyrs and nymphs to deal with everybody. For the most part, it wasn’t working. The younger campers were getting antsy, and the older were getting downright anxious. How hard could it be to deliver a message? In Sykkuno’s opinion, that was part of the reason they were invited when they were. To try and keep an eye on the younglings. Although, they might actually be worse.

Charlie had taken the roll of getting everyone together for both dinner and campfire, and it was obvious that his patience was wearing thin. By the time the last song was over, he was standing by the edge with Toast, who seemed much calmer than he had been the last time Sykkuno had seen him. 

He’d met with Ludwig over dinner, talking about normal things like streaming and view count. The son of Hermes was just as easy to get along with in person as he was over the phone, which was nice. Sykkuno had also caught a glimpse of Karl Jacobs for a split second. The other man had all but disappeared after they made eye contact, not even showing up for the last meal of the day. He was so lost in his thoughts that nearly jumped out of his skin when Charlie clapped his hands.

“Alright, listen up, you little crotch goblins. Bed time.” There was a chorus of groans from the kids, but he wasn’t budging. “You don’t have to go to sleep, go watch youtube or some shit, I don’t really care. But I _will_ shave your heads if I catch you outside.”

Twenty minutes later, there was a knock at the Demeter door. Charlie opened it to see Sykkuno sitting in a circle of kids, showing them all pictures of Bimbus. He looked up, standing from his place on the floor and stretching. “Everyone’s in here, we did multiple head counts.”

His friend motioned for Sykkuno to come to the door, pulling it shut behind them. He watched as Charlie pressed his hand to the wood, a bright blue light going to rest in the crack of the door frame. “There. Now they can’t escape.” He started down the path toward the woods with no explanation.

“W-wait! Where are you going?” He jogged to catch up with Charlie.

“I didn’t come all this way to NOT play capture the flag. And now we can actually play rough.” Charlie’s expression was a terrifying mixture of determination and delight, and Sykkuno didn’t want to be on the opposite team. He’d never played with Charlie, and he wasn’t sure that he wanted to. He seemed pretty intimidating even on stream, and with the surroundings, Sykkuno wasn’t eager to go one on one with him.

As they broke the edge of the woods, multiple voices could be heard. Sykkuno hadn’t worn the best outfit for this. His bright blue hoodie seemed much more easy to see than the black outfits that everyone else had on. There were probably 30 or so people in the woods, the head counselors of years past that had been able to come. It was lit by a few torches, and he could see the faces of the few people that he did know huddled together.

Toast, Rae, Ludwig, and Karl were all standing together, probably discussing strategies for the game. The teams ended up with the friends being pretty evenly split between them. Ludwig and Karl were on Sykkuno’s team, while Toast, Rae, and Charlie were on the other. This probably wouldn’t end well for his team, he hadn’t exactly been practicing his fighting recently. The rest of the cabins went to either side.

Like when they were kids, Rae and Sykkuno were given the flag to hide. He chose a spot between two trees, giving a perfect view of the flag from either side. He wanted people to try and get it. This was one of the few camp games that he was good at, and used to take pride in. In plain sight, the flag was surrounded by vines that he had summoned to grab and trip anyone coming near. He turned when he heard something, knowing that it was one of his teammates.

It was Karl, talking quietly to someone that Sykkuno hadn’t seen before. Black hoodie pulled over his hair, black face mask, jeans, and boots. He really went all out for capture the flag, huh? Karl waved, so he waved back. Even if he had ghosted him earlier.

“Sykkuno! I’m not surprised you’re here. You really have a thing for plants, huh?” The guy beside him held up his hand in a halfhearted wave.

“Heh, I guess. It’s what I’m good at, y’know?” He paused, raising an eyebrow. His gaze stayed on Karl, not worried just yet about the other team coming. “Wait, how did you know I was Demeter’s son? I put the vines down a while ago.”

Karl shifted from foot to foot, glancing at the taller man beside him. “We may have seen you in the strawberry field earlier, you looked really peaceful.”

Well, that was… something. He’d been being watched? By Karl Jacobs and hoodie man? That didn’t exactly make him feel safe. “I, uh. Okay? That’s a little. Okay.” He looked to hoodie man, who seemed to be staring at him. It was hard to tell, with how little light they had to go on. But it seemed as though he was. “Which cabin are you in?”

Karl opened his mouth to answer, when there was a rustle in the woods near them. Sykkuno felt stupid. He had been responsible for making sure that no one came near the flag, and he’d gotten distracted. Rae would never let him live this down. A glance showed that the flag was still there, although there was definitely someone else with them.

“Karl, watch the left.” He turned to the flag, pressing his side against the tree he was nearest, ready to summon more vines if he needed. “They’ll come from the front, uh, if it’s anything like it used to be.”

Karl crouched on the other side of the flag, ready to ambush whoever came through. The rest of the team must have been doing offense, trying to capture the other flag themselves, leaving the three of them to guard theirs. At least it wasn’t just Sykkuno. He was so focused on the dark of the underbrush that he almost didn’t notice hoodie guy moving behind him, until there was a hand lightly touching his shoulder.

“I’ve got your back, Sy.”

Sykkuno’s eyes widened, his concentration dropping immediately. That voice. He knew that voice. He’d heard it countless times, on streams, on discord calls at three in the morning. The same voice that had consoled him when he felt down, and that let him have a place to vent when it all got to be too much to handle. The deep baritone was impossible to misplace, and a thousand small things clicked into place in his mind at once.

“C-corpse?”

Sykkuno didn’t have to look at the other man to hear the breathy chuckle that escaped him, the same one that he’d been hearing through his headphones now directly in his ear in person. The thought that he’d seen Corpse in person and not realized that it was him crossed his mind, and he instantly felt bad. But in his defense, he hadn’t exactly been able to see very much.

Before he could turn to face him, there was a hand on his wrist nearest the tree, fingers strong enough to bruise. There was a single whisper in his ear before the next few seconds blurred.

_”Babushka.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This chapter is leading into more actual plot, I just had to get this out before we lead into it. Maybe... a quest? Mayhaps? Also, this is not beta'd, so please fell free to point out any mistakes, and I'll fix them! 
> 
> I already have Corpse's parentage figured out, but any guesses? May not be as obvious as you'd expect!


End file.
